Read Defying the North Wind Online
Authors: Anna Hackett
Defying the North Wind (8 page)
As the warm, humid breeze ruffled her hair and made her skirt ripple, she stiffened her spine. She wasn’t going to stand here and let the WindKeeper intimidate her.
She took a step forward. “You can come out now.”
There was a brush of someone passing through the foliage. Then a man stepped out.
Skye’s breath caught in her throat. He was ridiculously good-looking. Tall, lean, muscled. Dark hair curled around a face that was razor sharp—firm jaw, knife-edged cheekbones and hawkish nose. She felt a lick of appreciation inside that shocked her.
“They sent a
coniglio
this time.”
He had a deep, melodious voice to go with the looks. And she knew enough Italian that his words stung. “I’m not a rabbit.”
“Little rabbits like to run.”
Her lips firmed. “I haven’t run.”
He tilted his head. “Not yet.”
She swallowed and looked past the handsomeness. Power radiated off him. A ragged blast that surrounded him like a black aura. Lines cut into his cheeks and his eyes were a turbulent gray that made her think of storm clouds.
He was a man who’d slipped over the edge and was barely clinging to the cliff. He was out of control, his power threatening to consume him—and if he joined his Tempest Wind, they would be capable of wreaking destruction on the entire planet.
To distract herself, she looked away and spied a brilliant red flower. She fingered the edge of it. It was beautiful, exotic. Like the man. “You don’t scare me.” She wouldn’t let him.
Suddenly he was in front of her. His gaze burning into her.
She fought not to take a backward step.
“You’re a liar, little rabbit.”
***
He stared at the woman.
The small crowd gathered outside had been sending in tall, toned women. They’d come promising to help him, help him remember. They’d wanted to save the world. And they’d watched him with wariness, like he was a weapon about to go off.
This little wisp of a thing stared up at him with big, sad blue eyes, her pulse fluttering in her throat.
She was…different.
Whispers poured through his mind, tearing into him, as they had for weeks.
Take. Take everything you want. Take it all.
His fingers flexed. He wanted to be back in his office, on his computer, trading stocks, checking his bank balance. He needed the addictive thrill of making money, collecting wealth and riches, every minute of every day.
“Are you here to save the world like the others?” he asked. “To do your duty?”
The woman chewed on her lip. “No.”
That single word made him pause. “No?”
She shrugged. “I’m not here for the world or for you. I’m here for me.”
He liked her crisp, British accent. She didn’t smell of greed but here she was telling him she was acting on selfishness. It intrigued him. He let his gaze slide over her slim build. She had the most delicate wrists he’d ever seen. Her long hair was the pale gold of fine champagne and her clothes were shapeless and simple.
“What’s your name?” For some reason, he needed to know.
“Skye.”
It suited her.
“And yours is Soren,” she added. She watched him carefully. “Soren Vulturnus Venti.”
He frowned. Soren. It sounded right. But he didn’t want to know any more. All he wanted was to focus on what he desired and collecting everything he could. “And who are you, Skye?”
She shrugged. “I’m no one special. Just a woman. Timid, shy.” Her big eyes flashed. “I’m broken and I’m tired of it.”
Her words were quiet but they speared in under his skin. Her honesty was refreshing. He blinked, unable to take his gaze off this intriguing woman. He circled her, pulling in the scent of her. She smelled like the promise of a spring storm. “Why are you here, little rabbit?”
“I want to be strong. I want to do something that matters.”
“Helping me matters?”
She nodded.
He leaned in, his lips brushing the delicate shell of her ear. “Greed beats deep in my veins. I take everything I want.”
She shivered but she didn’t back away. “Are you going to toss me out like the others?”
For a reason he didn’t understand, he wanted this woman close by. She didn’t back down and she didn’t push against him like the others who’d blazed in here ready to do battle. She fascinated him. And right now, any distraction was welcome.
“You stay.”
The Anomaly Trilogy
The Phoenix Adventures
Perma Series
The WindKeepers Series
Tempting the West Wind
Defying the North Wind
Claiming the East Wind
Standalone Titles
Anthologies
For more information visit
annahackettbooks.com
I’m Anna Hackett and I write action romance stories to thrill you, excite you and leave you inspired. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals to inspire you with the truth that the possibility exists for all of us to do the same.
I blame my parents for my insatiable need to mix action and romance. When I was young, I raided my mother’s romances and as soon as I could reach the shelf, my father’s action adventure thrillers. I
love
being exhilarated and left just a little breathless. I love car chases, explosions and spaceships…and of course when the boy wins the girl. Oh, and I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. After reading, watching or writing an awesome action romance story, I’m left energized and feeling like anything is possible. I aim to give the same to my readers.
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@AnnaHackett
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